West Virginia Independence Hall in Wheeling

You know I've been stopping to see any site associated with the Civil War lately- luckily, many great places have been preserved.  Some areas have tried to keep places associated with the war around.  Some Civil War sites have been weathered and neglected, only to be restored later.

I am glad to say that the good people in Wheeling realized the treasure that they had in their Independence Hall.  They have restored it, and made it into a great museum.

We arrived as the museum opened, and we were welcomed by the staff, who told us all about the place, and took us to see a film about Independence Hall, and its significance. 

You could say that the state of WEST Virginia started at this spot.  On the third floor, politicians had various meetings- creating the 35th state- West Virginia.

The citizens  in this area decided, after Virginia left the Union, that they wanted to leave the Confederacy.  Well, they formed a new state and did just that!

On display are many relics from the Civil War, and from Wheeling at that time.  There is an amazing display there now of Civil War flags, some of which were present at battles!

The thing that impressed us the most- was the building itself.  It looks great.  Several offices are set up to look like they would have in the 1860s.  There is a nice display on the whole restoration project too.

AND, it just gives you goose bumps thinking about the fact that, in this building, West Virginia got it's start!

Prabhupada's Palace of Gold near Moundsville West Virginia

If you check any roadside attraction website, book, or other source, you will see that Prabhupada's Palace of Gold shows up on all of them.

It is a bit of an oddity, in MANY ways.

The Palace itself boasts that CNN named it one of eight religious wonders of the US to see.  Roadsideamerica.com rates it a five out of five- giving it a "The Best" rating (a pretty rare honor, actually).

Not as impressive, tripadvisor currently ranks this as #5 of 6 attractions in Moundsville.

Opinions vary greatly on this attraction.

I did learn that it was built in the 70s, pretty much as a palace for Prabhupada, who is credited for starting the Hare Krishna movement in the United States.  The faithful learned how to build as they were building.  I thought the palace looked amazing, but one practitioner we talked to pointed out that LOTS of renovations are being done right now..... because of the unskilled labor used in the 70s.


Before our visit, I did do some searching online about the Palace.  It is impossible to mention this place without acknowledging a ton of controversy surrounding it.  I won't go in to that here, but a basic search reveals a lot of info...

BUT... on to our experience.

The roads leading here are curvy and hilly!  Watch out!

We parked in a small parking area, and walked right to the Palace.  We were told of the amazing rose garden, and it was just that.  The garden, the Palace, and the entire surrounding area is exceptionally photogenic.  We explored for some time, seeing no one else as we walked.  It was very peaceful.... though dark clouds appeared and buckets of rain suddenly came down.  We took this as a good sign to go inside.

We walked into the Palace and were welcomed by a very sweet lady.  We paid for our tickets and our tour began.

Shoes and photos are not allowed inside.  I personally enjoyed casually walking around barefoot.

Our guide talked openly about the religion, the Palace of Gold, and the community. 

She explained how the Palace was originally built for Prabhupada, but he passed away before it was built.  He did visit the local community a few times though.  He is considered very important in this religion.


We did walk around the grounds some after our visit to the Palace.  We did talk to some of the locals.  I understand that this is a religious community and all, but the few we talked to seemed pleasant, but generally confused.  We were hoping to visit the gift shop, but one was closed.  Another one, inside of the temple, may or may not have been opened.  We talked to a few locals who weren't sure.  They were also not sure if a service was going on in the temple, or if we could go in.

We felt that the locals we asked were trying to be helpful, but they seemed a bit confused in general about our questions. 

The ratings systems I mentioned before....  I think they are all accurate in different ways.

There are so many cool things to see in the Moundsville/Wheeling area....  and if you are not interested in non-mainstream type religious groups..... this place might be one to pass on (the VERY cool Marx Museum, the West Virginia State Penitentiary, the Mound, and Independence Hall are all very family friendly sites close by.


However, if you are in this area and appreciate amazing religious monuments- this is a can't miss.

Marx Museum- Moundsville West Virginia

I was personally very excited about stopping by the Marx Toy Museum in Moundsville West Virginia while we were there.

Marx toys were THE toy company for several decades.  They made a lot of nice dolls, figures and cars.  I personally appreciated the company for its VERY detailed lines of small figures, especially presidents.

They made thousands of small figures though, including cowboys, Indians, animals, Disney characters, astronauts, etc.  If they could think of a figure to make, they would make it.

But they made other great toys too.  They made some of the first small figures of popular super-heroes.  They made the Big Wheel, and Rock'Em Sock'Em Robots (which are still in production by other companies).  They made trains.

They also made "The Best of the West".  Easily one of the coolest action figure lines ever.  These were 12" cowboys and Indians made of hard plastic.  They were durable, detailed and very articulated.... and they had all sorts of cool accessories!

So, we made it to the museum and bought our tickets.  There was a very sweet and energetic lady running the place while we were there.  We weren't expecting it, but she ended up giving us a guided tour that lasted probably a couple of hours!

She seemed to know everything about the company.  She pointed out several of the very rare Marx toys.  My favorites included young boys in some sets carrying rifles.  These were later retooled to NOT have weapons in their hands.

We were also told about things that some of the Marx artists subtly included on the toys.  One artist used his children's initials on licence plates.  The number 303 was a favorite at Marx, and it appears as a house number here and there.

A VERY cool bit of trivia involved one of the Marx sculptors using his niece as a model for a female Indian in the Best of the West line.  Our tour guide told us that the niece now works at the local bank!

Which reminds me.....  I forgot to mention that the Marx Toy Museum here has a very direct link to the community!  The city of Moundsville was the home to a Marx factory!  We watched a short video while we were there about the local connection!

We also watched a film about Louis Marx, the company founder.  A figure of Louis was available in the gift shop!

One of my favorite areas of the museum was the prototype room.  This room had several play sets and toys that were never mass produced.  Also on display were many figures cast in a different color of plastic than what was used later.

Our guide pointed out a great photo on the wall.  The picture is of Louis Marx at a baseball game with Richard Nixon- watching as Yogi Berra makes a catch near Jackie Robinson!

I could easily go on and on about how much I enjoyed my time here.  This is a must see museum for anyone in the area.

Grave Creek Mound- Moundsville

About a one minute walk from the West Virginia State Penitentiary is Grave Creek Mound.

I think that everyone who visits one, visits the other.  It would kind of be wrong not to.  AND it is cool that these two very unusual stops are clustered together.

We stopped by after our prison tour.  There is a great small museum next to the mound.  We saw some interesting displays on Marble King marbles, which are made nearby, and on glass.

I was really impressed with an area of the museum dealing with relic collecting.  There was a nice arrowhead display.  Next to the display was information about how the old tools were of limited value, as the person who collected them did not record information on where and when they were gathered.

After visiting the museum, we walked to the top of the mound.  We could see all around Moundsville.  It was a great experience.

Johnny Shar's Big Dipper- Moundsville, West Virginia

We stopped for a quick lunch at Johnny Shar's Big Dipper in Moundsville.  It was the perfect place to grab lunch between our visit to the old prison, and our visit to the Mound!

This is ANOTHER original place in West Virginia with a ton of character.  A train from an old roller coaster is right in the middle of the dining area, and circus/sideshow related art is all over the walls.  I LOVE that stuff!

We had some great food too.  It was well under $15 for the two of us to pig out.  I was finally able to try a pepperoni roll in West Virginia!

West Virginia State Penitentiary in Moundsville, West Virginia

The Moundsville and Wheeling West Virginia areas have been on our list to visit for some time.  We were finally able to get there recently.  Seeing the old prison was a major priority.

The West Virginia State Penitentiary opened in 1876, and closed as a functioning prison only 20 years ago.  The place has witnessed it all.  Riots, murders, jail breaks, executions.... you name it. 

For a COMPLETE history of the place, check out Sherri Brake's book, "The Haunted History of the West Virginia Penitentiary."  Her book is a HUGE 600 page volume covering all of the haunted history, and all of the documented physical stuff.

So, we arrived at the former prison early for a tour.  We were joined by another couple from Ohio that would be visiting the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum later that evening.  They obviously had a fun day planned!  Visiting these two giant West Virginia landmarks sounded like a great way to spend a day!

We bought our tickets and explored the small museum area in the front before our tour.  Then, our guide Chuck started the tour.

Chuck gave us some facts about the facility and its history.  He started in the front area, where visitors used to come to see their loved ones in prison.  He pointed out lots of amazing pieces of art that had been completed by inmates displayed throughout.  One area was decorated with cartoon characters, as this was the area where kids would visit.  It looked like it was painted to be appreciated by the young visitors.

Some art prints, made by one former inmate were available in the gift shop.  Money from the sales went to charity and families of the inmates victims.

Early on in our tour, I thought our tour guide Chuck was making a dark joke about the place's past.  I quickly realized that he was not.  He was very serious about all that had happened here.  We also realized, as our tour continued, that our guide had actually worked at the prison!  He was there for almost a decade before it closed.  Having a guide with that kind of personal connection was a huge bonus!  Chuck had stories... and he was very open about his own experiences.

The West Virginia State Penitentiary has become legendary over the last few years for it's reported paranormal activity.  A very famous photo of a shadow person has been seen by just about everyone.  Well, Chuck showed us the spot where the photo was taken (see the hallway photo on the left).  He also took the time to show us other similar photos taken inside of the retired prison.  He mentioned that all of their late night ghost tours usually book up quickly. 

We were there during the day though, so we felt pretty safe.  We were allowed to explore the old kitchen area, which feels very creepy now.  We were also taken to a basement area with no light at all.  A couple of flashlights offered little illumination.

I did want to mention that this was a very informal kind of tour.  Chuck let us explore casually at times on our own.  This is a very "hands on" experience in a lot of ways.  Chuck let us pull the lever to lock the cells (which was just as cool as it sounds).  I felt more like I was exploring an extremely cool old building with some friends- one of whom used to work there.

Chuck pointed out areas where various things (mostly bad) happened.  With his first hand knowledge and the time he personally spent there he obviously knew a lot.


Chuck spent some time talking about the prison's electric chair, which was last used before he worked there.  He did know about the times it had been used, and how it was made.  He explained how the chair was used early on.  A drawing was held among the guards to see who had to "push the button."  There is more to the story....... but I could imagine the anxiety felt among all of the guards before an execution.

We learned that the prison is still used for training.  Obviously they get a lot of tourists.  AND, the West Virginia State Penitentiary is still a beautiful piece of old architecture in a beautiful area.  There are many positives here.

Right across the street from the prison is the Grave Creek Mound.  We walked to the top of the mound and enjoyed the view of the prison from there.

This is an amazing building in a great town.  I can't stress enough about how much history and beauty is packed into this underrated area.  If you appreciate unbelievable structures, strange history and stories of ghosts, the West Virginia State Penitentiary is a must visit.

Wheeling West Virginia

Not too long ago, we visited Wheeling West Virginia!  We also spent a chunk of time exploring this area of West Virginia and nearby Ohio.

I have been in this neck of the woods before, but there is surprisingly a lot to see and do here.  There are historic sites, toy museums, restaurants, and small, interesting religious communities.

We divided our time up among Wheeling, Moundsville, Marietta, and Sugarcreek.  More on each of those places later.

A couple of things really struck me on this trip.  For one, we found some great coffee shops again!  You know how picky I am about good, unique coffee shops- and it seems that after our trip around Lake Michigan, I just stopped finding them.  I assumed all of the independent shops were gone.  Luckily, I found two that were perfect tens.

Oh, and the religious communities....  we spent time in Sugarcreek Ohio, which is populated by a large Amish community.


We have been around Amish quit a bit, and I have always admired how they do things and I have always found them friendly! 

We also visited New Vrindaban in West Virginia, which is a Hare Krishna community. 

Check out these photos of Wheeling though.  There is a lot more going on there than you might think.....